Poem for May 25, 2015

May 25, 2015
Monday evening, Memorial Day
The Cottage
Sunny, upper 70ºs

Arrived at the cottage Saturday night, late. Spent yesterday cleaning and shopping. Will stay for about two weeks, go home for a few meetings, then come back. Plan to spend most of the summer here this year. Mom and Dad visited today. We had a cook out of course! We played a game of Scrabble. They just left a half hour ago. Glad to be getting back to this poetry journal.

Selected words:
paper
illustrated
golden
gardens
bloom
together
myself
May
stars

Paper
illustrated with
golden stars.
May gardens
in bloom.
Together here today.
I am pleased to be
by myself.

Poem for May 2, 2015

May 2, 2015
Saturday – Dinner time – Home
Sunny, 60ºs
These certainly are my go-to colors. Haven’t done a page in almost 2 weeks and these are most comfortable. Interesting selection of words for today. Can’t wait to see how the poem will turn out. I can feel a connection between them and the thoughts and emotions that are just below the surface. Have been feeling quite stressed lately. Haven’t been making the time to jog or do a journal page – just work, work, work. Decided to make the time for both today. I need it!

Selected words:
persevere
fragments
largely
distraction
incomparable
adequate
come
before
patience

Persevere

Distraction
So much work,
largely of my own making.
Pressure, stress
I must persevere.

This isn’t like me
When did this way
of living come to be?

I want to go back
to the life I had before.

Patience now –
capture the fragments of time
still available to me.
These are adequate – they must be.
A little each day yields
incomparable riches
in the end.

Daily Poetry for April Project

I did not meet my goal of creating a poem a day from found words through the month of April. The conference really set me back, though I did complete an additional week of entries when I returned. But really, I needed to spend every available moment trying to catch up. Once I stopped it was hard to pick up again. Here it is May 1st and I am writing to say that I intend to finish this project. I have squares remaining for 10 more days. The end of the school year is around the corner and I know I’m not going to get the chance to work on these nightly. But I plan to complete the project before the end of month. If I need a break from reading papers, I will create a journal page or two.

Thanks for reading along.

 

Poem for April 20, 2015

April 20, 2015
Monday evening – Home

Very heavy rain most of the day today. I brought a change of clothes with me, knowing I’d get soaked walking to campus. Stayed late so that I could walk home once the storm had passed.

Selected words:
water
ferns
flickers
turnips
gooseberries
natural
trees
ordinary
open

Water, trees
ferns, flickers
turnips, gooseberries
Natural beauties
Never ordinary
When eyes and heart
are open.

Poem for April 19, 2015

April 19, 2015
Sunday evening – Home

Attended the bridal shower of a former student who works as a research assistant. It was quite nice. The decorations were white, lavender and silver, with orchids, which is her wedding flower. Sat with work friends and colleagues. As would be expected the conversation at our table pertained to engagement stories, wedding traditions and the state of our relationships. One friend, who had been talking about getting engaged recently, told us that she and her boyfriend had just broken up this morning. Love & Marriage – such archetypal patterns! or Love & Loss – better.

Selected words:
gift
eternally
alternately
Orchids
mature
happen
frequently
tradition
splendid

What is a gift?
Frequently a tradition,
such as Orchids on
Mother’s Day.
Alternately, it is a letting go,
allowing something to happen,
to grow or mature.
Eternally harder to give
But often more splendid.

This poem was the most difficult so far. I thought the chosen words would fit together nicely, especially since they really related to today’s events! (choosing the word Orchids-how cool is that?) But eternally, alternately and frequently were tough to string together.

Poem for April 18, 2015

April 18, 2015
Saturday evening – Home
Sunny, 70-80ºs?

the most beautiful day of the year so far! It must have been in the 80ºs. Took the train downtown to Jerry’s Palette Shop to buy the water soluble crayons and oil pastels that Jane told me about. I controlled myself and only bought a few of each. But I already want to add more colors!
Since it was so nice out, I took the train to the Untermeyer Fountain and walked home from there. Picked up dinner so I could work in the journal and experiment.

Selected words:
fields
honeysuckle
warmed
wherever
summer
Appalachian
long
remember
abundant

I remember that long summer
spent in the Appalachian mountains.
The abundant honeysuckle
rambling in the open fields
And the sweet tartness of
the wild raspberries, warmed by the sun.
Wherever we trekked, goodness
was there.

Poem for April 17, 2015

April 17, 2015
Friday evening – Home
Cloudy, rain on and off, upper 50ºs

Walking through the park this morning, I discovered which bird has been singing that song I’ve been hearing the last few weeks. It is the white throated sparrow. My recollection is that these birds overwinter here then leave in the spring. Why are they singing their mating calls now? Do they find a mate before they head north? Will need to look into that. Dad may know.

Spoke with Jane today. Of the many things we discussed, I told her of my frustration with the two glossy squares I get each day. They don’t hold the color or take the colored pencil. She suggested that I try Caran d’Arche Neocolor II water soluble crayons or Cretacolor Aqua Stic w. s. oil pastels. She also reminded me that my goal this month was to spend just a half hour a day on the journal with the purpose of creating a poem. Guess I just can’t help wanting to add more to the page.

Selected words:
promising
children
mountains
youthful
voices
visible
rising
air
hear

We draw near enough now
for the mountains
to become visible on the horizon.
We hear the youthful voices of
children rising in the air.
Both promising a day
of delight.

Poem for April 16, 2015

April 16, 2015
Thursday evening – Home
Sunny, cooler, upper 50ºs

Red turns up again!
Didn’t jog this morning, so did before I made dinner. Trees showing signs of life. Magnolias are starting to bloom.
What do I want to do with the squares today? Maybe I’ll write the poem first and see if that generates ideas.
I like the poem, but it hasn’t helped with this page.

Selected words:
Chinese
pure
soon
continues
red
grace
months
flowers
border

Dreaming

Thoughts today of that
cottage with the Chinese red door
and the border of pure white
flowers which grace the steps.

Months away yet,
but the dreaming continues.
Soon I tell myself.
Soon.

Poem for April 15, 2015

April 15, 2015
Wednesday evening – Home
Sunny 70ºs windy

The first square I picked tonight had the word scarlet on it. Made me think of a conversation I had with a woman during the conference. I shared that I rarely choose the color red for anything – clothing, cosmetics, decorating or in art making. I prefer the cooler colors of water – blues and greens; and of the earth – browns and earthy greens. I tend to stay away from the fire element. I reflected that maybe I should start seeking out the color red. And here it has appeared!

Selected words:
possible
scarlet
finger
color
liked
interest
open
creativity
described

Scarlet

Creativity is
described as
being open to
what is possible.
What if I liked
the color scarlet?
Can’t put my finger on why
I don’t
but maybe,
deep down,
an interest is there.

It has been hectic since I’ve gotten back from the conference. Here is the poem and journal page for today. I will get the others from the past week posted in the next few days.

Poem for April 13, 2015

April 13, 2015
Monday evening – Home
Sunny, low 60ºs

Mom made us breakfast – french toast with blueberries. I headed out early – had lots to do before lecture today. Went for a jog before dinner. Lots of people out. Wrote yesterday’s poem, now working on this.

Selected words:
beautiful
gained
brought
richness
some
thirty
sculpture
visible
water-lily

Central Park

So many beautiful scenes,
such richness visible always:
Water-lily ponds,
sculpture,
thirty or more staircases,
some leading to magnificent vistas.
This one treasure
had brought endless pleasure
to city dwellers
for generations
and truly deserves the adoration it has gained.